Kent’s Team Hard Racing have this morning announced the return of Tom Onslow-Cole to the team and to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
Onslow-Cole is no stranger to the team or the championship and replace the injured Ollie Brown for the next three rounds.
Onslow-Cole competed in the BTCC from 2007 to 2013, taking seven victories and 36 podiums over that time for marques such as Vauxhall and Ford, before joining Tony Gilham’s Team HARD. squad in 2013.
The team has been working hard to develop the Volkswagen CC in 2020, which Onslow-Cole debuted at the beginning of the 2013 BTCC season at Brands Hatch. The team recently announced that they would be retiring the ageing Volkswagen CC at the end of the season in what has turned into a fitting send off for the championship winning machinery.
Looking ahead to the BTCC’s visit to the UK’s fastest track in the country, Thruxton, Onslow-Cole said: “I’m super excited to be stepping back into the BTCC and reuniting with some old friends at Team HARD. Racing. The team has grown enormously since I last raced here, and I am grateful for this opportunity to come my way.
“I was lucky enough to debut the Volkswagen CC back in 2013 and even took the cars first podium at Thruxton of that season and when the team announced that they would be retiring the CC at the end of the season I thought to myself ‘it would be awesome to get one last go’. When Tony gave me the call, I jumped at the opportunity of getting back behind the wheel in the car’s final season in the BTCC, in what feels like a fitting end to its participation in the series.
“Naturally, it’s never nice to hear that a fellow driver has been injured whilst out on the track and I wish Ollie a speedy recovery from his injuries but I look forward to linking up with Jack (Goff) once again after seven years, and meeting Nic (Hamilton), to extract the maximum out of the car.
Tony Gilham, Managing Director of Team HARD. Racing commented: “The world remains in a funny place at the moment and this BTCC season is proving to be no different. As other teams and drivers have proved getting onto the grid for 2020 is very tricky and it would have been easy for us to retire the car until Ollie returns.
“Knowing that this will be the last season of the Volkswagen CC and for us to make the best of this situation I thought I’d give Tom a call and see what his plans were for this season. Despite commitments to other series for 2020 Tom was up for the challenge of getting back into the BTCC and fortunately for himself and the team he can commit to the next three race weekends.
“Tom’s racing record both in and away from the BTCC speaks for itself, and his achievements since he was last with us are remarkable. It’s a great achievement to acquire a driver of top pedigree at this stage of a very unique season of motorsport.”
Onslow-Cole will be partnering Goff in the second RCiB Insurance with Fox Transport Volkswagen CC for the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship events at Thruxton, Silverstone and Croft, all of which will be broadcast live across the ITV network.